The series will open this year with the Limón Dance Company on Friday, Sept. 30, at the Knickerbocker Theatre. Hailed as “one of the world’s great dance companies” by the New York Post, the Limón Dance Company is still at the vanguard of modern dance 70 years after its founding by the legendary choreographer Jose Limón. Wendy Liberatore of the Daily Gazette said, “The Company still carries that indescribable magic that brought it to the forefront of American modern dance so many years ago.”  Renowned for its technical mastery and dramatic expression, the company continues to demonstrate both the timelessness of Limón’s work and the humanistic vision that guides the repertory choices, which include “Carlota,” “Orfeo,” “She Who Carries the Sky” and more.

Trio Con Brio Copenhagen will perform on Friday, Oct. 14, at the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts. Recognized as “one of the finest trios in the current scene” by The New Yorker, the trio is an instance where family ties, cultural blending and musical connection converge to energize concerts worldwide.  Korean sisters Soo-Jin and Soo-Kyung and Danish pianist Jens Elvekjar, also Soo-Kyung’s husband, have won most of the international competitions for piano trios around the world, including Denmark’s most prestigious music award. “The Trio con Brio Copenhagen clearly occupies a lofty perch in today’s musical scene,” The Washington Post said.

The St. Lawrence String Quartet continues to build its reputation for imaginative and spontaneous music-making, bringing its energetic commitment to quartet literature and new works to the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts on Saturday, Nov. 12. Deemed “witty, buoyant, and wickedly attentive” by The Gazette Montreal, and celebrated by the LA Times for its “flexibility, dramatic fire and…hint of rock ‘n’ roll energy,” the quartet returns to the series (2005) with an in-depth look at a Joseph Haydn quartet, performing parts and explaining what Haydn was aiming to accomplish. Chamber veterans and those new to classical music will both learn from and enjoy the quartet’s open approach to Haydn’s work. The quartet will also perform quartets by Ludwig Van Beethoven and John Adams.

The comedic Reduced Shakespeare Company will perform its newest work “William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged)” on Friday, Jan. 20, at the Knickerbocker Theatre. The latest work by the three-man troupe is a comic misadventure that will feel strangely familiar since it weaves all of The Bard’s famous characters, greatest lines and magnificent speeches into a brand new Shakespearean smorgasbord. “The Bad Boys of Abridgement” continue to take serious subjects and reduce them to short, sharp comedies, described by the Cincinnati Enquirer as “a wild, wild ride! It’s funny. Really, really funny…and most of all, it’s really, really smart.” The company first gained prominence with “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” which has been performed throughout the world and is London’s longest running comedy. The company’s itinerary has included stops at the White House, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, London’s West End, Seattle Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre and Montreal’s famed Just For Laughs Festival, as well as performances in Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Malta, Singapore and Bermuda, plus countless civic and university venues throughout the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe.

Multi-Grammy-nominated jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas will bring his quintet to the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts on Friday, Feb. 17. Douglas premiered his quintet in 2012 with the recording, “Be Still,” which the New York Times heralded as “gorgeous and contemplative.”   His career includes more than 40 recordings as a leader, plus countless more with other artists. He has been recognized as Trumpet Player of the Year by the Down Beat Critics Poll 13 times in the last 15 years.

Hope alumna Eve Panning ’15 will return to her alma mater with Barrage 8 on Thursday, March 30, at the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts. The violin-based, modern world beat ensemble is a blend of contemporary string arrangements and high-energy choreography that has toured in more than 27 countries. “This is not your father’s recital hall experience,” said The Chicago Tribune. The “8” in the name represents a re-imagining of the string octet: five violins, a viola, a cello and a double bass—an instrumentation that drives a rich and powerful sonic palette that further explores musical diversity in its compositions and arrangements.

All performances will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Season tickets are now available, and cost $80 for regular admission, $65 for senior citizens and $160 for a family (no matter how many children). The subscriptions are such a savings that they are equivalent to seeing two shows for free. Individual tickets go on sale on Wednesday, Aug. 31, and are $20 for regular admission, $15 for senior citizens, and $6 for children 18 and under.

Tickets are available at the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.).  The office is open for ticket sales weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at 616-395-7890.

• Share
• Tweet
• Post